"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Well I lost an eye in Mexico
I lost two teeth, where I don't know
People see me coming and they move to the other side of the road
I robbed a liquor store or two
I made myself at home a few times
Borrow myself a car when I need it
I got me a shack at the bottom of the road
Fixing cars and giving tows
I spend all my money
On the lottery
When I win the lottery
Gonna buy all the girls on my block
Color TV and a bottle of French perfume
When I win the lottery
Gonna donate half my money to the city
So they have to name a street or a school or a park after me
When I win the lottery
Never ran a flag
Up a pole
Like Mr. Red White and Blue down the road
But I never call myself a hero for killing a known communist
Now I could walk into any old bar
And find a fight without looking too hard
But I never killed someone I don't know
Just cause someone told me to.
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy the house next to Mr.
Red, White and Blue
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy post 306
American legion, paint it red with five gold stars
When I win the lottery
When the end comes to this old world
The righteous will cry and the rest will curl up
God won't take the time
To sort your ashes from mine
Cause we zig and zag between good and bad
Stumble and fall on right and wrong
Cause the tumbling dice with the luck of the draw
Just leads us on
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy all the girls on my block
Silver plated
Six shooters with a quart of the finest highland scotch
Cause when I win the lottery
The righteous will shake their heads and say
That God is good, but surely works in mysterious ways
When I win the lottery.
I lost two teeth, where I don't know
People see me coming and they move to the other side of the road
I robbed a liquor store or two
I made myself at home a few times
Borrow myself a car when I need it
I got me a shack at the bottom of the road
Fixing cars and giving tows
I spend all my money
On the lottery
When I win the lottery
Gonna buy all the girls on my block
Color TV and a bottle of French perfume
When I win the lottery
Gonna donate half my money to the city
So they have to name a street or a school or a park after me
When I win the lottery
Never ran a flag
Up a pole
Like Mr. Red White and Blue down the road
But I never call myself a hero for killing a known communist
Now I could walk into any old bar
And find a fight without looking too hard
But I never killed someone I don't know
Just cause someone told me to.
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy the house next to Mr.
Red, White and Blue
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy post 306
American legion, paint it red with five gold stars
When I win the lottery
When the end comes to this old world
The righteous will cry and the rest will curl up
God won't take the time
To sort your ashes from mine
Cause we zig and zag between good and bad
Stumble and fall on right and wrong
Cause the tumbling dice with the luck of the draw
Just leads us on
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy all the girls on my block
Silver plated
Six shooters with a quart of the finest highland scotch
Cause when I win the lottery
The righteous will shake their heads and say
That God is good, but surely works in mysterious ways
When I win the lottery.
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Unfounded optimism and the American Dream (Mr. Red, White & Blue).